$2.1BN SCANDAL - YOU LIED - OKONJO IWEALA LASHES OUT AT GOV ADAMS OSHIOMOLE.

Immediate past Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy & Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, yesterday described as “false and malicious,” the allegation by Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, that she spent $2.1 billion from the Excess Crude Account, ECA, without authorization.

Speaking through her Media Adviser, Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu, in Abuja, the ex-minister said that there was no unauthorized expenditure from the ECA under her watch in the Finance Ministry.

According to her, decisions on withdrawals from the ECA were discussed at monthly meetings of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC, attended by Finance Commissioners from the 36 states.

PRESIDENT BUHARI FAULTS JEGA'S HANDOVER, APPOINTS MRS AMINA ZAKARI AS ACTING INEC CHAIRMAN.

It was the end of an era, yesterday, when the former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, formally handed over to Amb. Ahmed Wali as  acting chairman of the electoral body.

Following the handover, Jega said the future of the country and the commission were in safe hands.

However, after about eight hours as acting chairman, Wali was replaced as acting chairman by President Muhammadu Buhari who designated another national commissioner, Mrs. Amina Bala Zakari as acting chairman.

Jega, who was appointed five years ago by former President Goodluck Jonathan, bowed out with six national commissioners who were appointed the same day with him.

BUHARI'S DELAYED CABINET.

When former President Goodluck Jonathan and General Muhammadu Buhari emerged as the presidential candidates of the two major political parties – the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) respectively, it was taken for granted that the government that would assume office on May 29th 2015 would start work immediately. The reason behind this was simple: both men had occupied the highest office in the land and would not need to learn from the scratch on the job.

SENATE LEADERSHIP SNAFU.

It is no longer news that Bukola Saraki emerged as Senate President under very controversial circumstances. The eerie calm that pervades the membership of the All Progressives Congress- a party that has been in existence for less than two years, unlike the Peoples Democratic Party that has been in government and in power for 16 unbroken years – as they struggle to come to terms with Saraki’s abracadabra, can best be described as the peace of the graveyard.

PRESIDENT BUHARI APPOINTS "MRS. AMINA BALA ZAKARI" AS ACTING INEC CHAIRMAN.

Prof. Attahiru Jega on Tuesday bowed out of office as the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Consequently, President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Mrs. Amina Bala Zakari, as the acting chairman of INEC.

Zakari, the first female to occupy the position albeit in an acting capacity, was until Tuesday, a National Electoral Commissioner at INEC.

#APCCRISIS - BISI AKANDE'S LETTER ANGERS NORTHERN PARTY LEADERS.

Fresh facts on Tuesday indicated that the national caucus meeting of the All Progressives Congress scheduled for Monday was cancelled because of the suspicion within the party.

The PUNCH learnt that the APC leadership called off the meeting because of reported anger of some leaders of the ruling party in the north at insinuations by Chief Bisi Akande that they were behind the crisis in the party.

Akande, a former interim national chairman of the APC, had in a letter made public on Monday alleged, among other things, that, “Most Northern elite, the Nigerian oil subsidy barons and other business cartels, who never liked (President Muhammadu) Buhari’s anti-corruption political stance, are quickly backing up the rebellion against APC with strong support.”

12 FORMER SEX SLAVES WHO WERE FORCED TO SLEEP WITH OVER 50 MEN PER DAY SUE JAPAN FOR £16MILLION.

 The day Lee Ok-seon was snatched off the street is etched into her memory forever.

Terrified, she was just 15 years old when she was grabbed as she walked home from work and taken to work in a military brothel.

For three years she was held as a sex slave for the Japanese army where she was expected to 'comfort' up to 50 troops per day. 

Lee is one of only a few dozen surviving 'comfort women', the name given to up to 200,000 women and girls, mostly from the Korean peninsula, who were forced to work in Japanese frontline brothels between 1932 and 1945. 

BEN AFFLECK & JENNIFER GARNER SPLIT JUST A DAY AFTER 10TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY.

 Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner have officially split just one day after their 10th wedding anniversary. The couple, who married on June 29, 2005, confirmed they are divorcing. The pair have three children together; Violet, nine, Seraphina, six, and Samuel, three.

In a joint statement, the couple said: 'After much thought and careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to divorce. 

'We go forward with love and friendship for one another and a commitment to co-parenting our children whose privacy we ask to be respected during this difficult time.

CAITLYN JENNER STUNS IN LACY BLUE DRESS AT BROADWAY SHOW.

 
 She's taken New York by storm after partying at the Gay Pride Festival over the weekend.

And now Caitlyn Jenner is making her debut on Broadway as she was spotted arriving to a performance of An American In Paris on Tuesday night.

The 65-year-old was accompanied by transgender actress Candis Cayne, as she showed off her slim figure in a lacy mini-dress.

STATES OF EMERGENCY.......PART 2.

Speaking in Abuja at the annual Ramadan Lecture of the Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society of Nigeria last Sunday, the embattled Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, said: “The challenge I face today was not my making, it is a national problem. I borrowed N24 billion to pay salaries, but when the banks say I cannot borrow again, there is nothing I can do in the face of dwindling revenue accruing to the state.”

 After that lamentation, the governor, who has not paid workers in the Osun State Civil Service since November last year, now added rather curiously: “I am still labouring physically and spiritually to pay the workers’ salary.” Whatever the physical and spiritual efforts entail, Aregbesola must quickly address the challenge of Osun workers who, aside the financial ordeal they face, now also contend with all manner of humiliations, including from a senator who thinks he can make entertainment of their tragedy.

CBN EXTENDS BVN EXERCISE TILL OCTOBER 30 2015.

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Tuesday extended the deadline for the Bank Verification Number registration by four months  from June 30 to October 31, 2015.

The apex bank disclosed this in a circular issued to all Deposit Money Banks operating in the country.

The circular dated Tuesday, June 30 with reference number BPS/DIR/GEN/CIR/02/008 was signed by the Director, Banking and Payment Systems Department, CBN, Mr Dipo Fatokun.

READ HOW NGOZI OKONJO IWEALA & HER COHORTS $2.1BN WITHOUT APPROVAL.

The National Economic Council, chaired by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, on Monday accused a former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy under ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, of spending $2.1bn from the Excess Crude Account without authorisation.

“We looked at the numbers for the Excess Crude Account. The last time the former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, reported to the council, and it is in the minutes, she reported by November 2014 that we had $4.1 bn.

“Today, the Accountant-General Office reported we have $2.0bn. Which means the honourable minister spent $2.1bn without authority of the NEC and that money was not distributed to states, it was not paid to the three tiers of government,” Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole told State House correspondents after the NEC’s 58th meeting in Abuja.

PROFESSOR BOWS OUT GRACIOUSLY, HANDS OVER TO MOHAMMED WALI.

Prof. Attahiru Jega on Tuesday bowed out of office as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

He handed over to Mohammed Wali, a national commissioner of the INEC from Sokoto State, whose five-year tenure will also expire on August 11, 2015.

Jega was appointed chairman of the commission by former President Goodluck Jonathan on June 30, 2010.

OGBENI AREGBESOLA PAYS DECEMBER 2014 SALARY OF OSUN WORKERS.....

The Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress in Osun State, Mr. Jacob Adekomi,  said on Tuesday, that Governor Rauf Aregbesola has approved the payment of December, 2014 salary for workers in the state.

Adekomi, who said this at a press conference he addressed after a meeting with the government delegation led by Chief of Staff, Mr. Gboyega Oyetola, added that the governor also approved the payment of the 30 per cent balance of November salaries of some workers who were yet to be paid in full.

The NLC boss, however, said workers would not suspend their strike despite the payment of their one month salary out of seven months.

AUDU MAIKORI (@AUDU) STEPS DOWN AS CHOCOLATE CITY CEO, @MI_ABAGA & @ICEPRINCEZAMANI TAKE CHARGE. #THANKYOUAUDU.

Audu Maikori has stepped down as CEO of Chocolate City. Jude “M.I” Abaga has been announced as the new C.E.O  with Panshak “Ice Prince” Zamani stepping up as Vice President. 

Below are some of Audu's tweets.

PRESIDENT BUHARI'S FIRST 30 DAYS IN OFFICE, SLOW, STEADY, SERIOUS.

To the consternation of political associates, the sign of activity, as reflected by appointments and dismissals, have not been seen in the new administration. But that does not mean that the administration has been short of constructive engagements.

It has undoubtedly been an anti-climax for those Nigerians who had been roused by the idea that the first month of the new Muhammadu Buhari administration would be a re-enactment of the action-packed first 30 days of his first advent as a military dictator.

In his first outing as a military dictator, Gen. Buhari’s days were filled with scintillating sights and sounds of activity. Appointments were made over the radio. Arrests of corrupt politicians were severally made and broadcast to the enjoyment of the citizenry.

2 OOU STUDENTS & DRIVER BURIED AMIDST TEARS. #OOUMOURNS.

TOP OGUN STATE OFFICIALS VISIT THE ONLY SURVIVING VICTIM  IBUKUN

Three of the victims of the accident which killed 12 people including eight students of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, on Friday had been buried.

Also, Monday (today) and Tuesday have been declared a lecture-free day to mourn the deceased students.

The accident occurred on Friday at Ilishan Junction along Sagamu/Benin Expressway.

ASSASSINS MURDER PRINCIPAL SECURITY OFFICER TO FORMER FIRST LADY PATIENCE JONATHAN.

Deputy Superintendent of Police, Tamuno Jacob Igbomie, who was Principal Security Officer to the wife of the former President, Patience Jonathan, has been shot dead by unknown assailants.

Igbomie’s corpse was found in his Honda Accord car last Friday along the Airport Road, Abuja. The former PSO, who was married with two children, was believed to have been killed by assassins who shot him at close range in his car and left the engine running.

A source said the body of the DSP was found early in the morning with all his phones, wallet and other personal effects in tact in the car.

2015 BET AWARD WINNERS.

BEST FEMALE R&B/POP ARTIST
BEYONCÉ - WINNER
CIARA
JANELLE MONÁE
JHENÉ AIKO
K. MICHELLE
RIHANNA

SAHARA REPORTERS SAYS THAT SENATE PRESIDENT BUKOLA SARAKI (@BUKOLASARAKI) IS NOT A NIGERIAN.

A picture of a passport purportedly belonging to Senate President, Bukola Saraki has surfaced online. The passport which bears his name and  picture shows that he is not a Nigerian, hence was never eligible to contest for any political post.

Dramatic days ahead................